COMEBACK or COLLAPSE? 🤔 Stephen A. credits Wolves' DEFENSE as difference maker | First Take
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Shannon Sharpe and Tim Legler debate whether the Minnesota Timberwolves' 20-point comeback victory was more about the Wolves or the Denver Nuggets' epic collapse in Game 7 of in the Western Conference Semifinals.
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Now I want the media and all the old heads to have the same energy for the reining MVP losing a 20 point lead in a close out game as you did for the oldest player in the league.
LeBron is special. Jok is not LeBron. No matter how many mvp he has.
@@LateNiteCrew01 But he’s an all time great, and LeBron was treated like this before he even became one so I don’t wanna hear it.
They won’t. He is the preferred color. He has been overrated the entire time…due to playing in the NO DEFENSE era. All of these guys, you can see they are not as good. Edwards…none of them, when real defense is played. Denver played good defense on Edwards and he could not create a shot. He is NO JORDAN. Jordan could ALWAYS create a shot. As for Jokic, he has always been extremely slow and non-athletic, but again..benefitted from being able to waltz down the court into the lane and do whatever he wanted because no one was playing real defense. The games are like layup lines and shooting drills, but once the Wolves got up in him with real defense..he looked like an average tall wht dude. Not bad..but not ‘great’ like they want us to believe. Giannis..all of them..are overrated. Bron is someone I cannot stand..but he is the last of true great players. This comparing Edwards to Jordan or saying Jokic is on par with Kareem, Shaq, Olajuwon..is crazy. He would get DESTROYED by Shaq, and Ewing, and Mourning, and Robinson, and Olajuowon.
@@LateNiteCrew01Sure he is. “The best player in the league’…that has no athletic ability just height..and was ONLY stacking stats because the league is a layup line with no defense…but when he faced REAL defense..he looked like the average tall goofy dude that he really is. The entire NBA is an illusion created by the media. NONE of the current era is as good as advertised. They can’t even string together two good games in a row. It’s always ‘every other game’ with EVERY team!
@@LateNiteCrew01 that not a excuse he a 3 time mvp and a champion. If it was lebron and the lakers that blew a 20pt lead in a playoff game 7 the media would tear them apart😂
"they got the MVP, but we got Jaden McDaniels" everyone laughed but Jaden McDaniels dropped 20+ on 7-10 shooting in game 7 ,😂
They got KD not mvp
I think he’s just rephrasing lol or he’s stupid idk
The only question mark for MIN continues to be the O. If they get any type of production from JM or NAW it’s like an automatic W so long as AE and KAT are near their norm.
Stephen A was right about one thing - the most impressive thing about the Wolves pulling this off is… three of their four wins were in Denver, which is usually high altitude hell for opposing squads.
Altitude has absolutely nothing to do with it lol
Altitude? Denver's altitude doesn't even get to 2000m. That's literally the point where it affects aerobic ability, Denver doesn't have that at all
nightmare series for the Denver fans, 3 out of 4 they watched their team ANNIHILATED
@@Luckymag-if4dwTrue. People are acting like Jokic runs marathons in that body
Well I think the Nuggets are good as long as they beat the Lakers 🤓
Got focused on the Lakers too much
Jokic wanted to throw hands after Rudy threw that bs up. I was crying, lmao
To be fair, it's only natural to be upset when you see things that the laws of physics and nature should make impossible.
@@InchonDMTrue... but that's Jokic's whole career. We just used to it and come to expect it from him at this point 😂
@@mattk720 Have you played sports? Have you watched the league for longer than 2 months? They were SHOWBOATING on THEIR floor when they already had the game in the bag and ANT also waved bye to the crowd. Joker did the right thing. If it was hockey Gobert and ANT would have gotten sticks to the dome.
@@RemmyRiffslol they gotta hold that L. Besides, Jokic always making those incredible shots anyway, bro got a taste of his own medicine 😅
@@RemmyRiffs Let's clear this up:
The comment I originally responded to addressed Jokic looking exasperated and frustrated after Rudy Gobert made a very difficult Nowitzski-like shot at the end of the shot clock.
It had NOTHING to do with Jokic, or anyone else from the Nuggets, being upset with the T Wolves' antics at the end of the game. In regards to that, I would have to agree with you and have no problem with Jokic or others taking offense.
I like how they keep forgetting how Naz Reid dominated
That put back dunk, and that pass to Ant for 3 in the corner were two of the biggest plays imo
@@MrShymon3yand the DEFENSE on Jokic that no one seems to acknowledge lol.
And also blocked a Jokic hook shot and dove to break up a pass to a wide-open cutter that would have been a layup. He had a 5 minutes strech where he made 5-6 great plays. Huge clutch play from him.
Mcdaniels was a beast as well 🔥
He has a knack for contributing at inflection points in the game.
"i want to thank the Minnesota Timberwolves for helping me save face" 😂
Can u block me? Put hide user on me too. Please. 🙏🏼
You watch to much Shannon sharp😂 . Save face(😂😂😂😂
@@briananderson9650 *too 🤡
And the refs tried their hardest to give the game to the nuggets
Last 3 minutes, they definitely tried to dial up the fix
Lies 😂
😂😂😂 so true.. Rudy - 6 fouls.. Kat - 5 fouls
Yeah that’s why Minnesota was in the bonus with 7 min left in every quarter 😂😂
Not hard enough 😮
Rudy turn around jumper homeboy was moving like jokic 😂😂😂
Huge Jokic fan here, but that was like WAAAT I agree with Shanon that was over right there. You can just laugh in retrospect lol 😂
Gobert pulled a DIRK NOWITZKI alright
The disappointment on Stephen a face is why I’m here 😂😂
Wym? He picked the wolves to win
Bro said wolves in 4 and then said wolves would never win in the series again when they were down 3-2 💀
Wrong video, wait till the knicks
It wasn’t enough coins and dollars 😂
@@Colchonero-pu1xohe never said the wolves wouldnt win again. He chose the wolves to win the series.
"Worst prediction of my career" bro forgot he predicted the champs wrong from 2011 to 2016
Well tbf there was a lot of choking in that time
2011-heat choke
12-thunder disappear
13.. I can’t remember
14..? Which one is the one where Tim Duncan wasn’t even on the floor and the spurs couldn’t hit a free throw to save a baby chicken?
15? Lebron D ride? Plus injuries
16 warriors…. 😔… how lol??
@@super8766you’re way off
@@super8766you need help.
@@super8766 Dam my guy.. 13 is the year you're referring to for 14.. 14 The Spurs annihilated The Heat.. 15 Warriors won due to those injuries.. and 16 3-1 comeback from Cleveland. There ya go fam. Lol.
@@hustla4life45 lol thx
Murray & Jokic used to going at teams with no guard and big play. Minnesota got allat and some.
But conley is average tho
@lucky889s9 The man 36 he did his job I was referring to Ant, McDaniels, & Alexander defensively bro
@@StickyIckyy5900the way I see it, nuggets just choked when 3 starters disappeared. Total of 70mil per season for those 3. And the owner and front office too cheap to get quality bench before deadline. Now they paying for it
Joker 35 will never be as dominating as a Shaq 35 just saying
The problem here was that EVERYONE besides Jokic and Murray did NOTHING. Sooooooooo many WIDE OPEN shots missed over and over again
And Murray's production was like 80% in the first half
Chokic took 28 shots and played no defense. Chokic has never beaten a 50 WIN team in the playoffs
Wow… we can really see the jokic bias now. Now 3 time MVP would get a pass for blowing a 20 point lead. All I’m hearing about today is Knicks injuries and Minnesota defense😂😂🤦🏽♂️ but KD and Bron get slammed for days after they eliminated… smh
Game 7.. joker drop 34… KD and Bron got swept.. did u hear how they was dogging joker down 0-2. Everyone started saying he shouldn’t even won mvp.. what are you talking about
@@dariuswhite2148 jokic was inefficient TOOK 28 SHOTS
PLAYED TERRIBLE DEFENSE
CHOKIC
GIANNIS IS WAY BETTER AND HE NEVER GETS THE SAME LAME EXCUSES
Luka has a bad game 4 with another triple double and gets the blame for the loss😂😂😂 their favorite player kyrie puts up 9 and gets a pass. If kyrie could have scored 11 luka would have closed the series in 5
@@IknowMoreThanYou and what was ant man last night??? Highly efficient?? O but wait his team showed up… what was highest scorer outside of Murray and joker???? 7 points lol.. but ok yea blame him lol
@@IknowMoreThanYou youll defend Giannas losing cause of his team but blame the joker lol ok
Jamal Murray was too embarrassed to ask Ant for keys to unlock his handcuffs after the game.
He had 35
@@Frxhsekidd2nd half he had 5 points. He didn't finish great, as well as the Nuggets bench being lackluster.
@@Frxhsekidd He better have 35. Because there was no more after that when Judge Ant put those cuffs on him in the 2nd half.
You should be worried about Kyrie now!
@@Frxhsekiddba and aa… before Ant and after Ant
Wow nuggets really showed off how experienced and battle tested they are
nobody mentioning the fact that the wolves were in the bonus for over half the 4th quarter..between stupid fouls and missed shots the Nuggets might as well have mailed that 4th quarter in
Exactly...when they went into the bonus, the fate was sealed.
Nuggets folded like clean sheets 😂
🤡
You’re up 20 and they’re best player shot 6-24. It’s clear they let Bruce brown and Jeff green go because they have to pay there starters and that’s there season.
I ABSOLUTELY 💯 RITE WITHOUT BRUCE BROWN JEFF GREEN NUGGETS NEVER CHANCE TO DEFEAT LAKERS LAST SEASON
Straight up the Nuggets supporting cast sucked. It was bad. But congrats to the Timberwolves.
Chokic
I'm so glad this Nuggets dinasty thing is over 😂😂
It's been boring
Aye as a laker fan I had a great morning waking up to these videos😂
If the Timberwolves win The Finals, they need to promote those throwbacks as their primary uniform set next season.
Are they gonna hold Jokic accountable for not getting it done?
The great thing about Jokic’s play style is that he gets all the credit when he’s dishing the rock around and his teammates are making shots, but he gets to avoid all criticism when he dishes the rock and his teammates missing shots
Jokic is still probably the best in the world but people had us thinking the man was Larry Bird, Magic, and Shaq all in one
Jokic showed up in this series except for Games 1 and 2. And a lot of that had to do with the Wolves' defense. The rest of the team was either inconsistent or shot bricks when it counted.
Alpha Edwards took got his Wolfpack to take that game from Joker, it wasn't his fault, it was other pieces of that 12 Piece chicken McNuggets faults for not helping
Brother what, it was literally a 2 v 5 in the end
Jokic didn’t play great but he legit had no help from players 3-onwards
Edward’s is the essence of the attitude that the NBA carried in the 80’s and 90’s, Passion ,accountability and keep your foot on their necks. Bring that feeling back more and more Mr edwards
Mike Conley lost his other game 7s due to his team. He's always been a clutch baller
I want a AI poster of a Wolf chewing a Nuggets jersey snarling 😂
Love the Mike Conley recognition. He just seems like a good dude and he’s still starting so late into his career.
Yall was talking about the nuggets like they were a dynasty after one chip
Exactly
Gobert also hit 4 fourth quarter free throws, tht was huge
As much as I usually don’t really like Stephen A’s takes. I think he’s spot on here. Ant had a tough first half. No doubt. He couldn’t get shots to fall. But he made shots down the stretch and more importantly he started making the right plays even if it meant not playing hero ball. There’s a reason Minnesota’s supporting cast played well. I think the box score in a vacuum doesn’t always tell the full story. He was a menace defensively. A lot of his misses were end of shot clock/quarter heaves or rim-outs. It’s cliche, but it was still winning basketball on a night he couldn’t get going.
Excellent series
Even as a New Yorker, seeing the T Wolves rise to the challenge and win in such fashion brightened up my day a lil after having to watch the Knicks get sent home earlier.
If this was LeBron… wouldn’t hear the end of it.
Glazing
He is not LeBron though
Lebron got swept 2 years in a row m8
@@Sr.PrincipIrrelevant
The reigning defending champs with the mvp, lose at home, while blowing a 20 pt lead in game 7.and it's not a nuggets debacle? Oh please
Rudy turnaround fadeaway jumper had me shocked. But that corner 3 Ant shot towards the end had me hype. And the celebration he did after. The way he did that shot, everything about it. The fake, setting his feet behind the line, then bang. Pretty sure all us Lakers fans were cheering along with the Wolves supporters.
The funny thing I noticed though is that most of the media guys I have heard since are picking Dallas. Including Shannon. A bunch of hypocrites considering they all would have picked the Nuggets vs Dallas. Yet the team that beat the Nuggets somehow can't.
“Legs: get into the nuts and bolts of it”.
*response gets cut short* 😂
Stephen A, I don't know what happened to my beloved Knicks. 😂😂😂😂😂
Joker was exhausted second half. Murray was also a ghost zecond half. The roleplayers were absolute garbage. 7 points from Porter Jr. And that was the most of the entire supporting cast. Nuggets got ezposed for over-relying on Jokic. This is a lottery team without Jokic
Excuses for Chokic
I just love Tim's presence in the show because even tho SAS is going to do his own thing, they tend to talk more about basketball itself than just narratives.
Watching this game last night was insane, Wolves locked down the Nuggets. Only collapse I seen was a lung collapse, they could not breathe due to that defense.
To me, it feels like the series was over after game 2. And the NBA just prolonged this series to 7 games for $$$.
I knew something was fishy when Barkley guaranteed the Wolves win.
Reigning mvp choked a 20pt game in game 7. Lmaooooo
4x DPOY hit a fadeaway 😂😂 became Dirk for 10 seconds.
Dude never choke, joker and Murray showed up it's the rest of the team choke and got caught in a deer light. What game were yall watching 😂😂😂
@@realtalk6720Naa keep that same energy.. He should have carried the team.. He was gassed and looking for the for the refs to bail him out 😂😂
@@realtalk6720 Nikola chokic
@@realtalk6720 He's watching the same game with the same folks that claimed James choked although he and Davis were putting up Monster Numbers.
Luka is basically a young Lebron. kyrie already won with a semi old lebron, its gonna be a good series
Naw young lebron was a 2 way monster on defense
Don’t insult The Goat like that
@@jimmyconway6080 smd
@@jimmyconway6080 $MD
Zumb ass3s ofc he dnt play like lebron ofc this imbeciles would throw that out.
Shooting three's for Timberwolves win is exactly what Nuggets did for Timberwolves
Hey I made the winning prediction score. Do I get anything for that?
Tpups making defense look sexy!
I said it from the very beginning of this season: when you lose guys like Jeff Green and Bruce Brown, it hurts from a Bench production standpoint and it was evident in the postseason. They were lucky to have drawn the Lakers in Round 1 but in Minnesota, those guys would’ve been X-factors for Denver had ONE of them stood around.
Same here, I tried to tell people about them losing those two guys and how important was but people thought the starting lineup + Christian Braun & Reggie Jackson would be more than enough to help them skate by to repeat as champions.
I think MPJ personal life caught up with him this series
Both defending champs blew a 20pt lead in the third quarter that’s a choke
You can't blame Murray or jokic for the loss.
I'd blame the others for not doing their part
@@123mikey1000We didn’t make that excuse for AD or LeBron the previous series, I don’t wanna hear it now.
@@123mikey1000 You most certainly can blame Jokic. He's the three time MVP who had a 20 point lead. He should've went for 50 if others weren't stepping up
@@123mikey1000All we heard after losing by 45 points, was how Jokic was staring and all he did was put up 34 points on 28 shots 😂
@@atraina6921stop it bro, what excuse? Nobody thought the lakers even had a chance besides delusional Bron fans 😂
This is your MVP? 3 time MVP at that . Any other 3 time mvp would be destroyed for this loss
To be fair, Nikola showed up.
I mean he wasn’t great but he literally had no help from anyone except Murray
Life of a hater must be a sad one
Lebron done get the benefit of the doubt when his team lose and he can out perform everyone and every category and still be held accountable. Kd get ripped to shreds when his teams lose but he still produces they question his leadership. Steph gets destroyed and he outscore everyone and they say the dynasty is over trade clay trade draymond steph old. But joker gets no backlash it’s crazy
@@user-vt8ym7jf8y Lebron has rarely ever been held accountable, the media always blames his teammates for everything. I agree with the sentiment that Jokic needed to be better, but having no other teammates in double figures besides Murray is near impossible to win with
Boston vs Wolves Can’t wait👊💪
The role players of Minnesota is much better than the nuggets. They are longer, faster and can make shots when it needs.
A 20 point comeback 20 years to the day of the last game 7 the Wolves played and won is crazy
Yeah Stephen A., Wolves defense is going to show up against the Mavs. Has all year
The only game where Luka and Kyrie both played it didn't.
Has their been a Michael Porter Jr. sighting?😢😅 My bad. Has anyone seen players on the Denver squad NOT named Murray or Jokic? 21 pts from everyone else.
3 starters disappeared. And no bench. They're not even injured. It's a disaster from beginning.
still can't believe people continue to disrespect Boston
This series was weird the 4 wins against denver to advance to the wcfs they held them under 100 points two of those games it was under 90 points.
No 1 defense vs no 2 defense 😮
Jokic and Murray did enough for the Nuggets to win, especially when Edwards was a horrible 6 for 24, but no one else stepped up for the Nuggets. The T-Wolves had six guys in double figures while the Nuggets third-leading scorer had just 7 points.
Naz Reid and Mike Conley are the unsung heroes. His defense on joker was outstanding.yg
Jokic & Murray were the only nuggets players in double figures in a game 7 ‼️ So nobody else noticed that🤦🏾♂️
That was a hungry Wolfpack, they wanted to eat some Chicky McNuggets
Denver game plan was two double and triple Antman. That was the main game plan - once Antman figured it out; game over. The air went out the sails for Denver - game plan on Defense failed. Both teams missed open shots, but Antman IQ just elevated to the nth after this game. Picking spots to attack a double team vs giving ball up. Attack and Shoot & Attack and Assist.
love mike conely
So if a team plays really well they'll probably win? Top tier basketball analysis from ESPN as always...
Stephen A claims he picked the Twolves but he literally flipflop after game 5 dude is consistent at being inconsistent.
i don’t understand the hate the nuggets get, they built they team through the draft and took their lumps i rooted for the wolves only because i like seeing new champs but that was it
Got too cocky
You can’t say the reason why the nuggets lost is cuz they don’t have green and brown when you literally lost a 20 pt lead in the second half
its okay jokic, every one would bring up 20 point lead blown up game 7 as an mvp, but remember in the span of last 10 years there was an MVP of a team who blown up 3-1 lead in NBA Finals.
Defense matters !!!!
Their perimeter defenders are elite. They about to lock up mavs and Celtics players
The starters and bench play defense, yea the Mavs might only get 1 win
That's the plan
Yessir and we got 3 bigs who can play D: Gobert, KAT and NAZ “NAZ REID” REID who can do anything coming off the bench
The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver nuggets, but there is a tunnel underneath the Denver Airport that proclaims the Timberwolves to lose in the next upcoming series .
The Lakers screwed up not resigning MaGee and Howard
Legglar gots to own it
Antman is gonna kill Kyrie. The series is over in 5 games unless the NBA pulls another West Semis.
Yeah…
I personally thought the winner of Nuggets-Timberwolves will go on to win the NBA Championship.
At the start of this series I thought Minnesota in 6.
Wow, what a phenomenal series.
Can't sleep on Dallas though, they are a scary team in their own right.
If all remaining teams stay Healthy, I still think Minnesota will win the Western Conference Finals, and eventually the NBA Finals.
....by beating both Dallas (WCF) and the Indiana Pacers (NBA Finals) in 5 games.
"Health is Wealth"
thanks Stephen A Smith for sending my mavs to the finals❤️
Wolves in five gentlemen's sweep 🧹
Denver ain’t keeping the same energy. How sad. There’s a reason why folks weren’t high on the nuggets after that championship.. nuggets don’t have a dynasty I don’t know why yall thought that… It took 4 years for that squad to avenge the bubble championship.. they only wanted to beat the lakers who at this time are old and new all together simultaneously
LET’S GO WOLVES!!! 💪🐺🏀
The officiating was mind numbing, what is a foul anyways? Touching a Nuggets player? VS. mauling ANT MAN? Geeeezzzz!!!!
denver 3s misses was too hard to watch and that was the turning point
Jamal will be forever known for the tantrum game
If Jayson Tatum does the same thing , the media crushes him. Such hypocrisy.
The Nuggets collapsed. They just stopped making shots. They had good shots in the third quarter, but blew it.
Lol they just stopped making shots. Yeah Wolves Defense had nothing to do with that.
They were up by 20. Clearly they Choked and/or ran out of gas. Nuggets need a bench
Am I Trippin or Shannon Sharpe ain’t that good on ESPN as he was on Fox Sports?
Correction @3:28 **Like Wolves
Yo, am I the only one who thinks the title "superstar" is thrown around way too loosely these days? There should only be like, ten real superstars in the whole league, max.
These are the current “superstars”
1) Luka
2) Jokic
3) SGA
4) Kawhi
5) Tatum
6) Brunson (barely)
7) Haliburton (barely)
8) Giannis
9) Donovan Mitchell
10) Embiid
EDIT: Forgot Giannis. Giannis is top 5 for sure
Honorable mention: Kyrie, KAT, Jaylen Brown, Zion, Ja, KD, lebron, steph (these 3 guys used to be superstars)
That’s about it
@@user-ze6ns9pq2y
I agree with you on (1,2,3,5 & 10), the othere - to me - are stars not superstars.
I'd add LeBron, Steph, KD, and Giannis to the list of superstars. They do have average teams, can't hold that against them if they did not have a deep run.
@@mahmoodpolo yeah Giannis is definitely a superstar. The other guys used to be in my opinion. Getting old now, just stars
Yeah, it's subjective I guess, you can't really go wrong with any player.
@@user-ze6ns9pq2y Anthony Edwards is here man. He deserves to be on this list over Mitchell and Haliburton for sure thevway he's been playing in these playoffs
Before the season began I bet my bottom dollar that nobody including the media thought Minnesota was a team thus will reach the western conference finals with a .500 winning percentage last year. Who had Minnesota thus far. Let me know so I can give you Vegas money
T Wolves are a championship caliber team!
nuggets choked G7 but the series they play to bad home lost 3 of 4 home is unacceptable for a team this good. they underperformed.
Let’s start giving Gobert some respect, he did his reputation wonders, just this victory alone has vindicated the Wolves FO
Pacers will win the title. Siakam has already won a chip. He will just tell his teammates how to win. Play hard, have lots of fun, and out score the other team.
💯
Murray and the joker were both gassed in the fourth quarter you could tell. But I mean Mike Malone had no choice since nobody else was giving him anything.
Timberwolves defense is better without DPOY Rudy Gobert. He lumbers around the basketball court like an uncoordinated Herman Munster.
He has the highest + - in the entire playoffs so far dummy
2 + 3 = 5 > Edwards should go to Jordan's barber after winning game 7 in Denver!